Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Catching up... St. Croix... the rest of the trip and future notes!

Since my last post (and not THE last post) about our trip to St. Croix, we've been to Montana for three weeks and to Illinois for 7 days so I'm definitely far, far, far behind on posting here. It seems that many things have intervened and kept me too busy to post...
  1. first with things here at the house and two weekend trips the two weekends prior to leaving for Montana
    • one from May 21-23, 2010 to "Dirt Fest" at Raystown Lake, PA (a mountain biking event Mike wanted to attend again this year and I accompanied him)
    • a second trip (by me alone) to Easton, PA to visit Robin (brother) and Pat (his wife) over the Sunday and Monday of Memorial Day Weekend
  2. and then with our trip to Montana (from June 2-23, 2010) which came about in a rather rushed fashion with a decision to go only about 3 weeks before we actually packed up and left
  3. and last but not least, a trip to Illinois from June 27 - July 3, 2010 due to a death in the family (Mike's mother passed away on June 19 while we were still in Montana); viewing and a memorial service were held in Lovington, IL (where she grew up and where other family is buried)
SO... I will try to briefly wrap up the last few days of our stay in St. Croix before forging ahead with stories from the rest of our travels! In the days after attending my nephew's wedding (see previous post) and before our departure, we managed to fit in another family dinner at our villa that included picture taking at the request of some of us who especially enjoy the tradition of a photo of "the five" siblings, some more shopping, another snorkeling trip for "the boys" (Mike and Larry III), a visit to the St. George Village Botanical Garden to walk around the grounds and shop a bit more at their delightfully air-conditioned shop (it was HOT outside), a quick stop to see Jason and Keely's apartment high on a hill overlooking Christiansted, and last, but not least, a family dinner at No Bones Restaurant (Jason and Keely's favorite local dining spot) on our last night in St. Croix. A few images are included below...

five siblings
One of several family photos taken on June 25, 2010 in St. Croix. This one shows "the five" siblings from left to right... Robin, Valerie, Larry, Victoria and Lukas. There is a slide show available for viewing the rest of the family photos including the ones from our last night together at No Bones Restaurant.
snorkelers on beach
Larry III and Mike returning from snorkeling at a beach near Point Udall.
better snorkeling beach
Just on the other side of the hill... better snorkeling than where Mike and Larry III snorkeled... but we saw it too late!
Cannonball tree buds and flower
A very unusual flowering tree... the Cannonball tree... so named because its fruits resemble cannonballs when ripe... this image shows some buds and one fully opened flower.
Christiansted, USVI
A view of Christiansted (town and harbor), USVI from Jason and Keely's apartment... the road was pretty rough (steep with sharp turns AND muddy) getting up there but we made it!
yellow and green building
An interesting building with exterior walkway and arches... I just like this one!

"THE END" of my St. Croix posts... on to the next adventures when I have some more time to post.